Tom Riddle Who?
by ArcticWolf003
Summary: What if Tom Marvolo Riddle was never born, thing would turn out differently for a lot of people. Later chapters will have OCs. Rated T for mild language throughout.
1. The Plan

**Description: **What if Tom Marvolo Riddle was never born? How would the world have turned out? Things would have happened differently that's for sure.

The Plan

Merope Gaunt sat cross legged on the filthy wooden floor of the tiny shack in which she had previously lived with her father and brother. The cauldron in front of her boiled slowly as she stirred in the ingredients for a love potion. The smell of the potion filled the crumbling structure, her nostrils flared with the smell of flowers and hedges. She smiled as a puff of smoke, in the shape of a heart, erupted from the cauldron signaling the potion was completed. Carefully she ladled it into a small, glass, vial and stoppered it so it wouldn't spill.

The first part of her plan was complete. She carefully placed the vial in a cloth hand bag that must have been beautiful at one point, but was now caked with mud and dirt making the original color indiscernible, a clump of short strings hung from the base which could have been full of beads but were long gone.

She placed the bag on the table and swiftly found her way to her room, which was slightly less disgusting than the rest of the building. A basin for water sat tilted on a broken dresser, she reached into a drawer and pulled out her wand; taking a deep breath, she held her wand over the basin, "Aguamenti," her voice shook as she spoke, uncertain if the spell would work. To her surprise, water spurted out of the end of her wand filling the basin full. The dirty basin caused the water to murk, but in the dark light she didn't notice. She undressed and bathed herself entirely, making herself presentable.

After her bath, she reached under her ragged bed and pulled out a box that looked as if it hadn't been opened for decades. Gently blowing on it, years of settled dust clouded the room causing her to cough heavily. She lifted the lid and her heart fluttered, a marvelous gown that looked as if it belonged to a queen lay neatly folded with a pair of shoes and a tiara on top.

She smiled at her reflection in the cracked dusty mirror as she twirled in the green, silk, gown and diamond studded shoes; the silver tiara perched on her mess of knotted, mud, brown, hair; last but not least, the locket of her ancestor Slytherin hung around her neck. The second part of her plan was complete.

The third and final part of the plan would be the hardest, but she knew that if she was going to get what she desperately desired she had to be confident that everything would go as planned.

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Music and laughter echoed out the front door to Riddle Manor, the light emanating from the windows engulfed the entire property it seemed, making it almost impossible for someone uninvited to slip in without being noticed. Merope, a master at being unnoticed, walked straight through the door, past the guards and guests without so much as a glance.

When she was safely in, she made her way to a corner and placed her wand in the dirty bag which also held the small vial. She scoped the room looking for the one she sought, the one whose voice was like music to her ears, the one known as Tom Riddle. It only took a moment for her to locate him in the crowed of muggles.

His suit looked to be that of a prince: black leather boots came up to his knees over pure white trousers; his upper body was covered by a rose red split tail coat that buttoned tightly around his lean torso with a neat line around his waist, and a pair of white gloves covered his hands. Dark chocolate hair was neatly combed sleek and out of his face; his flawless light skin seemed to glow brighter than the lamps, his plump lips were a peach color and his eyes… his eyes were a deep brown. He danced with that horrible muggle, Cecilia.

Cecilia was dressed in a dazzling white, ball gown, her shoes were of the finest make, silk white elbow length gloves covered her arms, a diamond necklace hung from her thin neck into her cleavage, and her blond hair was piled on top of her head in intricate swirls with little, white flowers placed all over. Her pink skin made her plump cheeks look like peaches, and her thick lips were covered in blood red lipstick. Her blue eyes reflected the elegant chandelier hanging above.

Merope's gaze followed them as they glided effortlessly through the crowd over the polished, porcelain floor. She imagined that she was in the hags place, moving as one with the man she so longed to be with. She watched as he dipped her; she watched as she spun out of his arms and smoothly back into them; she watched as he held her closely and whispered something into her ear causing her to giggle.

Her adrenaline was pounding through her veins, she had to keep herself from using the Cruciatus curse on the bitch, making her suffer as she herself was suffering at the very moment, but she couldn't, she had to stick to the plan. The current song ended, everyone clapped for the band and many people headed for the refreshment table, including Tom.

He filled two glasses with punch, Cecilia wrapped her arm around his, and the two exited the warm building and headed out into the night for the garden. She snuggled closer to him as they walked, Merope scoffed as she followed after them. The two sat down on a stone bench, Tom placed the drinks on the end and turned to Cecilia, wrapping his arms around her to keep her warm. Merope silently moved to the other side of a bush behind them and crouched waiting for the perfect moment to put the potion in his glass.

"The stars are beautiful tonight aren't they my love?" Tom asked Cecilia softly as he rubbed her arm gently.

"Aren't they always?" Cecilia giggled.

Tom looked from the sky to his fiancé, "I usually never notice them when I'm with you," he leaned in and gently kissed her lips. "You are the most beautiful star in the whole universe."

Cecilia nuzzled her head into his neck, "Oh Tom, you are wonderful," she said. "I hope our children are just like you." They both became silent, to Merope's relief, as they enjoyed each other's company.

She took this opportunity to finish her mission. She reached into her bag and pulled out the small vial, she unstopped it and reached around to put a few drops into his drink.

"HEY!" Someone yelled catching Merope off guard; she fell backwards onto the ground spilling the potion all over her dress.

"What's going on?" Tom demanded as the man that yelled approached swiftly. He spotted Merope, "You," he said in horror. "How… how did you…?"

The man that had yelled turned out to be a policeman, they were always invited to the Riddle parties. "She was trying to put something in your drink sir," the officer said, he wrenched Merope off the ground and kept her from running away.

Merope's heart pounded, _"How could this have happened? Everything was going perfectly!" _she thought to herself.

Tom slapped the glasses off the bench, "Take her away!" he commanded the officer then turned to Cecilia and hugged her, speaking comforting words to calm her down.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Merope was stripped of all her possessions: her purse, which held her wand, Slytherin's locket, and the tiara, then put into a holding cell. She stayed in the jail for a week, a long miserable week. When she was released and able to return home, she reached into her bag to find that her wand had snapped in two pieces when she had fallen backward at the party.

Becoming depressed and delusional, she stopped eating and spent most of her time dancing around the dilapidating cottage with "her love" Tom. She died a year later at the age of nineteen, never having sought another to love and never bearing any children.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Tom Riddle married Cecilia a few months after the events at the party, they had three sons and a beautiful daughter. They lived for seventy more years together, witnessing the birth of eight of ten grandchildren. The Riddle name was never mixed with magical blood.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Morfin Gaunt was released from Azkaban and lived a long, lonely life. He died in 1945 from old age and lack of good health.

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**A/N: **Sooooo… what did you guys think? This is my first HP fanfic and I hope it lives up to you guys standards. Please review and tell me what you did and didn't like about it. Much love ^^


	2. Wool's Orphanage

**A/N: **You know that orphanage in London where You-Know-Who grew up? Yeah that place, this is what it would be like without him there.

**Wool's Orphanage**

The halls of Wool's Orphanage were quiet; Ms. Clary, the headmistress, took a sip of her two sugar, no cream coffee as she signed adoption papers for the couple sitting across from her. They were here to adopt their first child and were very excited about it.

"Now, Henry, has a pet rabbit, are you fine with this?" Ms. Clary asked peering over the top of her half-moon reading glasses. The couple, a young black headed man looking to be in his mid-thirties, and his wife, a petite brunet about the same age, glanced at each other.

"What do you think Amelia?" The man asked his wife.

"Well… I suppose a pet would be nice, I've never had a rabbit," Amelia responded. "What about you Gregory?"

He thought for a moment then smiled, "Yes, it's fine that he has a pet, I wouldn't want to make our first day together miserable because we told him he couldn't bring it."

Ms. Clary smiled, straitened the papers to be signed, and slid them across the desk placing a pen on top, "If you are sure, I need you to sign everywhere I have indicated," she stood. "I will go prepare Henry for departure." The couple smiled leaned in to start signing.

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Henry lay on his stomach and elbows, legs in the air, and head propped in his hands, watching a small white rabbit eat a piece of celery. The other children were playing, marbles or tops, being as quiet as possible because Ms. Clary was interviewing potential adopters.

The door opened and everyone became hushed, Ms. Clary entered, all eyes were expectantly on her. "Henry Klot," she said aloud. Everyone turned their heads to look at the newest adoptee, envy in all of their looks.

Henry, a little shocked that he had been chosen by the couple, pushed himself off the floor excitedly, he cheered and jumped up and down in excitement, a few of the other children joined in his celebrating. Then he got a thought and stopped jumping, he looked at the white ball of fur still munching on the celery, "Does Hopper get to go too?" He asked. All the other children looked at Ms. Clary wondering the same thing. She nodded with a smile. The cheering started up again.

"You need to go pack your things… right now," she said over the cheers. Henry quickly scooped up Hopper and ran for his room, the halls echoed with his footsteps as he ran up the stairs and along the upper floor. Not five minutes later, the same footsteps were heard coming back down the stairs, but instead of going back into the room with all the other children, he was taken to Ms. Clary's office where he met his new parents, Mr. and Mrs. Hildergin.

On the way to the car, Gregory Hildergin carried the rabbit while Amelia carried the suitcase. As they drove away from the dreary place, Henry peered out the back window and waved to the other orphans as they waved back through the windows of the building.

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Dennis Bishop and Amy Benson were extra excited about this month's annual trip, because they were going to the beach. The last trip they took was to the museum and that wasn't very eventful, unless you count Hannah Erbit seeing the T-Rex fossil and bursting into tears. The trip before that, they went to a prune factory, they learned more about the shriveled fruit than any of them ever wanted to know.

This wasn't going to be like either of those trips, this was the beach, no fossils to make someone cry, no prunes to make you hate even hearing the word; just the warm summer breeze, the hot sand beneath your feet, and the cool, salt water.

Dennis and Amy sat next to each other on the transport, she wore her floral one-piece, a slightly too large sun hat, and a pair of pink sandals; he wore his blue, swim trunks, a pair of sunglasses, and green sandals. They high-fived as the transport took off toward the coast.

Five minutes before their arrival, Ms. Clary stood from her seat at the front and cleared her throat, no one seemed to hear her or notice that she had even stood. She took the whistle hanging round her neck and blew on it, everyone covered their ears, a few people screamed to be dramatic. When she saw that she had everyone's attention, she spoke, "Now, just because we are going to the beach doesn't mean that you can forget your manors," she narrowed her stare on a few sitting in the back. "Now, since we are arriving before noon, we have exactly four hours of fun before it becomes too crowded," She peeked at her watch which read 10:30. The transport jerked to a stop, Ms. Clary almost lost her balance. "Also," she said straitening up, "There will be no going into the cave on the far side of the beach, it's too dangerous." This time her stare looked around at all the older kids. She stepped off the transport, seconds later everyone was fighting to get off and run for the salty paradise awaiting them.

"Race ya," Amy challenged Dennis.

"You're on," Dennis accepted. They both took off toward the water at their fastest speed, Dennis slightly ahead of Amy all the way. They dropped their towels in the sand as they kept running for the water.

Dennis' feet touched the cool ocean first, he jumped up and down and splashed in his victory, "Yeah! I won!" he cheered.

Amy had her hands on her knees catching her breath, "No fair, you started running before me," she accused.

"Nuh- uh," he shook his head. She crossed her arms and huffed with a scowl on her face. He grinned at her, making his smile wider and wider until she began to smile back. She ran off into the water, he chased after her.

"Bet I can hold my breath longer!" Amy challenged.

"No you can't," Dennis laughed.

"Can too!" Amy blurted, she took a deep breath and ducked under the water. Dennis, not wanting to lose, took a breath and went under after her. A few seconds passed and Amy came up from the water, seeing as Dennis was still under, she took another breath and submerged herself once more. Dennis came up, Amy was still under, he took a breath and went back down. This pattern continued until they both came up at the same time and argued that the other came up before themselves.

Later, Amy made a sand castle with her friend Willow; Dennis pretended to be a monster and wrecked it by walking all over it. As punishment, Dennis had to be buried in the sand, most all the other kids helped pile bucket upon bucket of sand on top of him, this later caused him to complain about sand up his bum the rest of the day.

Twenty minutes before they were supposed to head back to the orphanage, Dennis dared Amy to go into the cave on the far side of the beach. Amy was hesitant to accept it, "Ms. Clary said we aren't supposed to go there," she said, looking back at the headmistress sprawled out on her towel.

"If you go real quick, she'll never know," Dennis said. He thought a moment, if she wouldn't accept a dare she might accept a double dog dare. "C'mon, please," he begged. She was hesitant still. He pursed his lips, "I double dog dare you to."

She gasped, "Dennis! Why would you do that… now I have to," she groaned, terror crossing her face. Dennis looked smug, then Amy got an idea, "Well… I double dog dare you to go with me," she poked his chest. His face became pale, he wasn't expecting her to turn it around on him like that.

They looked to make sure no one was watching and made off toward the cave. The water was rougher along the rocks and Amy almost lost her balance a few times, she was glad Dennis was there to help. The mouth of the cave was small, but the small opening lead to a large, dark cavern. Amy grabbed Dennis' arm and held it tightly.

"It's scary in here," she whispered. "And dark." Dennis agreed, he was shaking all over from fear that some large creature would jump out and swallow them both whole.

"Let's go back," Amy whispered lower than before.

"Yeah," Dennis agreed in an even lower tone.

On the ride back to the orphanage, both had agreed to forget the whole dare and never tell anyone… ever, instead they talked about all the fun they had. Everyone had a funny story to tell on the way back, everyone agreed that the funniest was one about Hannah Erbit finding a dead jellyfish on the sand and bursting into tears; she didn't think it was too funny though.

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**A/N: **Ok, so the children I wrote about are the ones that were affected by Tom while he was in the orphanage. Tell me how you think I did, I love reviews ^^


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